Security researcher Mikko Hypponen's TEDx talk illustrates extent to which nearly entire online population is being spied on

InfoWorld|Nov 5, 2013

"George Orwell was an optimist," declares Mikko Hypponen in his TEDx talk in Brussels. He is not speculating on Orwell's general outlook, of course, but merely making the point that the surveillance state Orwell imagined in his novel "1984" falls far short of the surveillance state that exists today.

The problem, as Hypponen sees it, is that the NSA has the legal right to intercept not just domestic data, but foreign data that passes through the United States. As home to major tech leaders (Windows, Mac OS X, Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the like are popular all over the world), the United States is in such a position that nearly every foreigner's data passes through domestic channels at some point, rendering the entire world subject to U.S. snooping -- Big Brother indeed.

But Hypponen isn't all anger and Orwell. He offers a solution: secure, open source software built by a consortium of nations that will help users rise above the surveillance state.